Minor League Recap 5/30-5/31/2021: Two for One Special

My apologies for not having the Recap of Sunday’s games up sooner. With only the Reno Aces playing on Mondays, I decided to just combine the two into one recap.

5/30 Tacoma Rainiers 6 Reno Aces 7

This was a wild game from start to finish. After striking out to lead off the game, Nick Heath was ejected by the home plate umpire to start the game. The game ended with Reno scoring five runs in the bottom of the ninth to win it in walk off fashion.

Corbin Martin went 5.1 innings in his start for the Aces, with five runs allowed on a wild pitch, nine hits and two walks, with four strikeouts. Unsurprisingly, Martin allowed a pair of solo homers, one in the second inning, and the other in the fifth inning. Keury Mella relieved Martin in the sixth with one on and one out, but didn’t allow the inherited runner to score. Mella pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, with a hit and a walk allowed, and a 3-1 GO/AO ratio. Jeremy Rhoades pitched two innings, struck out three and walked none, with just one hit allowed. Unfortunately, that lone hit was a solo home run in the ninth that put the Aces down 6-2, fortunately the Aces battled back with five runs in the bottom of the inning to win it.

Andrew Young got the Aces on board with a run in the bottom of the first. The Rainiers tied it right back up in the top of the second inning, but Reno pulled back ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the inning. Jamie Ritchie walked, advanced to third on a Matt Lipka single (Lipka stole second shortly thereafter), and scored on a Bryan Holaday sacrifice fly. Tacoma then scored three runs in the top of the third, and then added two more runs via solo homer in the 5th and 9th inning, making the score 6-2 going into the bottom of the ninth inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, Josh VanMeter and Seth Beer hit back-to-back singles, putting runners on first and third for Jamie Ritchie. Ritchie would make it back-to-back-to-back singles, scoring VanMeter, and putting runners on the corners for Drew Ellis. Drew Ellis hit a sac fly, scoring Seth Beer. Matt Lipka walked, putting two runners on for Bryan Holaday. On the very first pitch Holaday smashed it out of the park to left center, scoring three runs and winning the game for the Aces.

5/31 Tacoma Rainiers 11 Reno Aces 4

Monday was not as successful of an outing for the Aces. Humberto Castellanos struck out a pair of batters in his 1.2 innings of work, but allowed five runs on three hits and three walks, with a two run homer allowed in the second inning. Matt Gage followed with two innings of work and allowed three runs on six hits and a walk, with a pair of strikeouts. Like Castellanos, Gage allowed a home run to Rainiers first baseman Sam Travis. Carlos Navas inherited three runners from Gage, and allowed two to score. Nava also pitched two innings, and allowed two runs on four hits and two walks, and struck out one. Navas avoided giving up a homerun to Sam Travis, instead hitting him with a pitch. Cameron Gann pitched 2.1 scoreless and hitless innings, but walked one and hit two batters. West Tunnell allowed a run on a hit and a walk in his inning of work.

Nick Heath was 2-5, with a leadoff homerun in the first. Drew Ellis was 2-4 with a double. Camden Duzenack had all around great game, going 2-4 with a triple, and an outfield assist throwing out a runner at third. Seth Beer was hitless, but reached base twice thanks to a walk and a retaliatory hit by pitch.

(The rest of the games are all from Sunday 5/30)

Amarillo Sod Poodles 0 Corpus Christi Hooks 7

Tyler Holton got the start, and struck out five in four scoreless innings with a hit by pitch, a wild pitch, two hits, and two walks allowed. Brandyn Sittinger struck out one in his perfect inning of work in the fifth. Jeff Bain, Justin Vernia, and Justin Lewis all had poor outings to follow, with Bain allowing 3 runs on two hits and three walks, while striking out one in his ²⁄₃ of an inning. Bain actually walked in the first run of the game. Vernia allowed two two runs on a balk, three hits (one of which was a two run home run), and no walks, while striking out a pair of batters. Justin Lewis pitched ²⁄₃ of an inning and allowed two runs on four hits, also striking out a pair. Chester Pimentel faced one batter in the eighth, and got an out via flyout.

Amarillo couldn’t get it done offensively in the game, with only four hits and a walk, Stone Garret had an especially rough night, not because he was 1-3, but because he was not only picked off at 1st, and was ejected later in the game not even on the field, but from the dugout.

Alek Thomas: 1-4

Jake McCarthy: 1-4 with a double

Michael De La Cruz: 1-3 with a double

Visalia Rawhide 3 Modesto Nuts 6

Liam Norris went four innings and allowed three runs on a wild pitch, three hits and six walks, while striking out six. To be fair to Norris, Liu Fuenmayor inherited three baserunners, and allowed all three to score. Fuenmayor pitched an inning and allowed a hit, a wild pitch, and struck out one. Enmanuel Acosta struck out three in his two innings of work, and allowed three runs on three hits and four walks. One of those hits was a two run home run. Alex Valdez struck out two in a perfect inning of work in the eighth.

Neyfey Castillo had a good day at the plate, going 1-2 with a walk and a two run home run. A.J. Vukovich was 1-3 and stole second and third base during his lone appearance on the basepaths. Ronny Simon was 1-2 with a double, a pair of walks, and knocked in the other run for Visalia. Roman Ruiz was hitless, but walked and stole a base.

Hillsboro Hops 3 Tri-City Dust Devils 6

DreyJameson pitched six innings and allowed four runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out three, and picking off a runner at second base. Worth noting that Jameson had a balk in the game, and was hit hard by Tri-City third baseman Brendon Davis, who hit a pair of home runs, one in the first inning, and another in the seventh inning. Blake Workman relieved Jameson with two on and no outs, and allowed both inherited runners to score. Workman pitched 1.1 innings, with two runs allowed on three hits. Mitchell Stumpo pitched ²⁄₃ of an inning, getting both runners out on groundouts.

Spencer Brickhouse and Eduardo Diaz had great days at the plate. Brickhouse was 2-3 with a pair of doubles and a walk, while Diaz was 2-4 with a triple and a solo home run. Catcher Nick Dalesandro had a decent game as well, going 2-3 with a stolen base, his ninth of the year.